Painting RZR plastics

This is a discussion on Painting RZR plastics within the General RZR Discussion forums, part of the General RZR category; So I went through 7 pages of search and didnt find what Im looking for. Working with my fab guy, he was putting down some ...

So I went through 7 pages of search and didnt find what Im looking for. Working with my fab guy, he was putting down some spies-hecker paint on a factory Red hood. It was so slippery even after prep, masking tape peeled the paint off.
Ive painted two Rhinos and a Teryx, but never seen paint have this much problem adhering. Same paint sticks to Urethane bumpers no problem.
Questions:
How do you get the excess oils off this hood?
Is this a Polypropylene material? If so we can add an additive.

How was the plastic prepped? Do you know the exact procedures? It can NOT be prepped like a normal raw car bumper. The percentage of release agent they use in the plastic is different than automotive since they dont go through a paint process. Thus why Polaris offers a TPO/paint ready kit.
BTW there is NO additive produced in ANY paint line that will aid in adhesion. It's all in the prep

there have been multiple threads on painting the red plastic.
Yes it is a tough animal.
Yes many of us has done it though and successfully.
If your paint gut is familiar with painting plastic he knows what the rules are.
How about tell us what you did.
Be specific.

well, he's been doing it 30 years. Theres an additive for polypropylene. they use it on roundy round cars fuel cells.
I dont know what he's done specifically, but it looked prepped when I saw it. It stuck better on the inside than the outside.
He was asking me specifically about the ploaris plastics, since he does OEM stuff all day and if anyone on here had methods for baking, or otherwise removing the oily finish.

Technically speaking, there is no procedure for painting pigmented plastics. With that being said, lots of people do it with great success. The reason why Dupont, PPG, BASF, & Sherwin say there's no warranty is because of the content of Parafin wax associated with the color that's infused with the polypropylene and thus the paint film will not successfully pass "impact testing" (since paint film doesn't really like to stick to parafin wax to the degree that manufacturers are comfortable with).

If your painter is using Spies Hecker brand products, he should be scrubbing the plastic with warm water and 7081 Spies Hecker plastic prep (with a grey Carborundum scotch brite or a gold 3M scotch brite), which will remove all mold release agents from the plastic part. Note: a circular cleaning fashion with the scotch brite vs a linear scotch brite scratch will scrub & clean plastics up to 8 times greater, leading to better adhesion. Clean them twice "as per the tech manual", dry and clean panel with 7085 hydro cleaner and apply 3300 plastic primer mixed 1:1 with 3301 activator (1 1/2 coats or 1.25 mils). 35 minutes later, you can apply basecoat color or top coat single stage.

Technically speaking, there is no procedure for painting pigmented plastics. With that being said, lots of people do it with great success. The reason why Dupont, PPG, BASF, & Sherwin say there's no warranty is because of the content of Parafin wax associated with the color that's infused with the polypropylene and thus the paint film will not successfully pass "impact testing" (since paint film doesn't really like to stick to parafin wax to the degree that manufacturers are comfortable with).

If your painter is using Spies Hecker brand products, he should be scrubbing the plastic with warm water and 7081 Spies Hecker plastic prep (with a grey Carborundum scotch brite or a gold 3M scotch brite), which will remove all mold release agents from the plastic part. Note: a circular cleaning fashion with the scotch brite vs a linear scotch brite scratch will scrub & clean plastics up to 8 times greater, leading to better adhesion. Clean them twice "as per the tech manual", dry and clean panel with 7085 hydro cleaner and apply 3300 plastic primer mixed 1:1 with 3301 activator (1 1/2 coats or 1.25 mils). 35 minutes later, you can apply basecoat color or top coat single stage.

I have painted several red hoods as well as a whole red xp with good results. Proper prep procedures and using the right primer is key to success. Where as you can get away with being a little lazy with scuffing other surfaces and get away with it not so with the red plastics. If its not perfectly prepped iy WILL peel. Its a ton of work but if your determined it CAN be done. Better eat your wheaties though cause your gonna be scuffing for awhile.

Ive sprayed Spies Hecker for 10 years. You definately need to bake the plastic then clean with warm soapy water and then scuff, clean first then scuff or all your doing is moving the release agents around, then repeat, then repeat again till not greasy. The new product to the 3300 is the 3304 a ready to spray adhesion promoter 2 coats, clean again then your sealer 8590 with 30% flex "before" you add hardner and reducer. Then on to basecoat and clear. Hope i helped, the key to painting any non primed plastic is prep if you think its good enough, then do it again.Good luck and lets see some pics when done

Prep is the key to any plastics painting, scuffing, degreaseing, and good quality epoxy primer. I usually let the primer flash longer to allow for evaporation of the reducers for stronger adhesion. There is a lot of good advice and information in this thread.

Ive sprayed Spies Hecker for 10 years. You definately need to bake the plastic then clean with warm soapy water and then scuff, clean first then scuff or all your doing is moving the release agents around, then repeat, then repeat again till not greasy. The new product to the 3300 is the 3304 a ready to spray adhesion promoter 2 coats, clean again then your sealer 8590 with 30% flex "before" you add hardner and reducer. Then on to basecoat and clear. Hope i helped, the key to painting any non primed plastic is prep if you think its good enough, then do it again.Good luck and lets see some pics when done

FYI: Pre-baking hasn't been part of the technical advice from Dupont for about 6-7 years now. 3304 is NOT a replacement for 3300. They both stick well but 3300 has improved impact resistance and is an easier process since its a single operation and the elastifier is already in the product and does not need to be added. 3300 is a sealer and plastic adhesion primer all-in-one and is one of the most technologically advanced plastic processes thus far in the industry. Scuffing does NOTHING for plastic adhesion, the cleaning process and chemical adhesion is the key to adhesion. The reason why a gold 3M scotch brite is recommended is for scrubbing, not scratching.

Man I scuffed thousands of bumpers for nothing. Gonna have to disagree with that statement. I can Guarantee you if every single bit of the red plastic isn't thouroughly scuffed the material you spray on will NOT stick regardless of what it is. Everybody that has expierence painting has their way of making things work and some are different than others. I have used most mfg's products over the years and ran a couple of high production body shops. Flex additives were phased out a long time ago. Adhesion promoters work stand alone to a point depending on the type of plastic. Success on painting the red plastics is prep. I scuff using red scotchbrite and comet. clean repeat and clean clean clean. I wash everything inside and out with dawn before doing anything, scuff clean twice and finally go over any light looking places again.
First time I painted the red plastics I had to play around with it and really don't reccommend painting it just because it takes so much prep work and has to be flawless in prep. Bulldog adhesion promoter seemes to work the best. Don't even think about sanding the red plastic with anything more agressive than a scotchbrite . My personal rzr is red and will probably stay red because I don't want to do all the work to paint it.
If it were the other type I'd already have a badass paint job.